Matthew Singer

August 2025 update: Zach Cregger’s vanishing-kids fable Weapons, a must-see small-town mystery with a bitumen-black sense of humour, and immaculately-played Swiss hospital drama Late Shift are the newest additions to our best-of-the-year pantheon.  Halfway through 2025, Hollywood must be breathing a sigh of relief. At this point last year, the studios were scratching their heads at several major unexpected flops, and many analysts were left to wonder if the post-pandemic bounce-back of 2023 was simply an outlier. Now, with films like A Minecraft Movie, Sinners, Final Destination: Bloodlines and Lilo & Stitch outperforming expectations, it might be safe to say that the movies are finally, really, truly… back? Maybe we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. But there are reasons for cinephiles to celebrate beyond the industry’s financial health, whether it’s the blockbuster success of the aforementioned Sinners, Ryan Coogler’s ambitious and wholly original horror epic, or several smaller-scale achievements, from the formal invention of Nickel Boys to the animated underdog (undercat?) story of Flow to a pair of home runs from Steven Soderbergh. And there’s plenty more to come. Here are the films that have had us cheering loudest in 2025 so far.  RECOMMENDED: 📺 The best TV and streaming shows of 2025 (so far)🔥 The best horror movies of 2025🎥 The 101 greatest films ever made

Becoming champ is one thing, staying there is something else altogether. That’s the challenge faced by the once all-conquering MCU and its belt-wearing head honcho Kevin Feige, for whom the glory days of Avengers: Endgame are now a distant memory. And it’s not the DCEU’s pale imitation that presents the big threat – even with ex-Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn in charge. The passing of time and changing tastes demands bolder swings than much of Phase 5 provided, although it’s just possible that the infectious, daring Thunderbolts* and the infectious The Fantastic Four are the start of something fresh. In truth, though, even in its glory days, not all Marvel movies were created equal. For every box-office-dominating event picture, the studio would churn out a few inessential space-fillers. So while we wait to see if Avengers: Doomsday manages to return the Marvelverse to its Endgame high point, we’ve worked best and what has fallen flat by ranking all 36 official MCU flicks released so far. As the list demonstrates, the glory days are still where the gold/vibranium lies. Recommended: 🦸🏿 The 50 best comic book movies of all time💣 The 101 best action movies ever made🕵️ 40 murder mysteries to test your sleuthing skills to the max

Love hurts. Love scars. Love can make you giddy with laughter or hot under the collar and tight in the pants. It can make you sing and dance or shoot to kill. However it’s expressed, love is perhaps the most elemental emotion a human being can feel. So it makes sense that filmmakers turn to it for inspiration more than any other. A great cinematic romance drills straight into the heart of the audience. Even if you’ve never, say, robbed a bank with your loved one, or stood by your sweetheart as they transformed into a hideous monster, the best romantic films make you understand and sympathise with the decisions of those under love’s spell. Because one way or another, we’ve all been there. Falling in love is easy, but choosing the greatest films about love is a puzzle. That’s why, to help us curate this list, we chatted to more than 100 filmmakers, actors and writers, including those from Time Out. Believe us when we say these are folks familiar with the language of amor. Who knows more about making hearts swell than Nicholas Sparks, author of The Notebook? Or Notting Hill screenwriter Richard Curtis? Shoot, we even asked the ultimate romantic, Miss Piggy. Whether you prefer comedies or dramas, horror or sci-fi, we’re sure you’ll find the following list of the 100 greatest romantic movies ever speaks to your own heart as well. Written by Cath Clarke, Dave Calhoun, Tom Huddleston, Catherine Bray, Trevor Johnston, Andy P Kryza, Guy Lodge, Phil de Semlyen, Alim Kheraj & Matthew Si

Streaming is hard. That seems like a misnomer, given that practically every movie you could ever want to watch is now a few clicks away. But that’s the issue: knowing precisely what’s out there, and where to find it, can become overwhelming. Here, we’re doing the hard work for you, by cutting through the clutter and getting straight to the best movies available to watch right now and in the near future – not just at home, but in theaters as well. We will update this guide regularly, so you can always find something to watch. Here’s the latest and greatest available right now. What to Watch Now In Cinemas and Theaters New on Netflix New on Hulu New on HBO and Max New on Peacock New on Paramount+ New on Disney+ New on Prime Video New on Apple TV+ Action Movies Streaming Now Comedy Movies Streaming Now Sci-Fi & Fantasy Movies Streaming Now Horror Movies Streaming Now Date Night Movies Streaming Now Family Movies Streaming Now

August 2025 update: The year’s first comedy classic has landed – and it has a straight face and a zero tolerance attitude to crime. The Naked Gun, with Liam Neeson playing the son of Leslie Nielsen’s Frank Drebin, is a giddy, unmissable joy. Admittedly, it hasn’t been the funniest year, in the world or on screen. But if you’re in need of a laugh – and who isn’t? – you can still find plenty, either at the cinema or streaming on your television. Whether you prefer your comedy political (HBO’s Mountainhead), gentle (The Ballad of Wallis Island), romantic (Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy), dark and weird (Friendship) or broad and juvenile (A Minecraft Movie), there’s been a little something for everyone to chuckle at. And there are more LOLs on the way, with the upcoming Spinal Tap sequel and even Darren Aronofsky locating his funny bone with his new crime caper Caught Stealing. For now, though, here are the movies and shows that have had us cracking up the hardest in 2025. RECOMMENDED: 🎥 The best movies of 2025 (so far)🔥 The best TV and streaming shows of 2025📺 The 100 greatest ever TV shows you need to binge

For outsiders, Australia can feel like an undiscovered country, or another planet altogether – and when it comes to the nation’s cinematic output, that image works to its advantage. While the prevailing idea of Aussie film internationally is still defined by Crocodile Dundee, Oz has produced a trove of great films and filmmakers, many of which are informed by a unique perspective – whether it’s Peter Weir’s ethereal visions, the balls-to-the-wall action of the Mad Max franchise, or movies like Ten Canoes and Walkabout highlighting the indigenous experience. And sure, Crocodile Dundee is still a charming lark, and the popular films about unsuspecting tourists tormented by nutcases in the Outback are also a significant part of Australian movie history. But as this list of the country’s greatest films proves, there is much more to that history than that. This story contains the names and images of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have died. RECOMMENDED: 📽️ The 50 best foreign-language films ever made.🇯🇵 The greatest Japanese movies of all time.🇰🇷 The best Korean films ever made.

In cultural shorthand, enjoying foreign films has long been a euphemism for snootiness. It’s a hacky stereotype that’s acted as a barrier between Anglophone audiences and some of the greatest movies ever made. It’s also wholly inaccurate. Sure, plenty of movies from non-English-speaking countries explore complex themes and big ideas, sometimes using methods far different from what viewers are accustomed to. But you’ll find just as many over-the-top action flicks, ridiculous comedies, heart-swelling musicals and stomach-knotting thrillers. Obviously, the world of international film is broad. So, in compiling this list of the best foreign movies of all-time, we had to set some parameters. We omitted silent films and determined that the movies had to be in a language that wasn’t English – so goodbye Britain and Australia, enjoy your separate lists. Other than those caveats, consider this your cinematic passport. Written by David Fear, Keith Uhlich, Andy Kryza, Joshua Rothkopf & Matthew Singer  Recommended: 🔥 The 100 best movies of all-time🇫🇷 The 100 best French movies of all-time, ranked🇰🇷 The best Korean movies of all-time🥋 The 25 best martial arts movies of all-time 

No other actor has defined the ‘worshipped by audiences, hated by critics’ dichotomy more than Adam Sandler. Breaking out of the Saturday Night Live cast in the early ’90s, he established a screeching manchild persona teenagers found irresistible and that played like a 6 am leafblower to pretty much everyone else.  Then, starting around the turn of millennium, something truly funny happened: as respected auteurs, from Paul Thomas Anderson and Judd Apatow to the Safdie brothers, started casting him in more serious roles, fans and detractors alike had to reckon with the fact that Sandler could really, truly act. He never stopped cranking out the gleefully juvenile comedies he made his star on, of course – only now, he does so alongside serious award contenders. (In 2025 alone, he’ll resurrect one of his most beloved characters in Happy Gilmore 2, then make an Oscar push in Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly.)  It’s been a long, strange career. But what are Sandler’s best movies? Here are our 10 favourites.

Audiences have learned to view movies based on true stories with a certain amount of suspicion. Cinematic truth often differs from actual truth, and even the most accurate depictions of real events to appear on the big screen typically feature at least a sprinkling of dramatic license. And so, in compiling this list of the best movies based on true stories, we paid particular attention to those films that approached their subjects with something close to a journalistic eye — none of this vague ‘inspired by true events’ stuff.  Among them are Oscar winning dramas covering major moments in history, salacious crime stories drawn from magazine articles, odd character studies, psychedelic head-trips and other wild tales no one would believe if they didn’t actually happen. Sometimes, truth really is stranger than fiction — and often, it makes the best movies. Recommended: 📹 The 65 best documentaries of all-time😱 The 15 scariest horror movies based on true stories🔎 The best true crime documentaries on Netflix🙌 The 25 best biopics of all-time, ranked

No matter how much the world changes, the western keeps moseying back into theatres as if time hasn’t passed at all. Its endurance is a curious thing. Historically, it’s a ‘white’ genre celebrating conservative ideas of masculinity – and that’s not to mention all the outdated ‘cowboys and Indians’ stuff. In theory, the western should have died with John Wayne.  But in recent years, films from Jane Campion’s quietly moving The Power of the Dog, the all-Black The Harder They Fall and even Ari Aster’s pandemic-set Eddington have taken the genre in bold new directions, which has only made it easier to appreciate the true classics. And so, here are 50 of cinema’s best oaters, spanning the golden-age to today, with psychedelic odysseys, slapstick satires and heaping helpings of spaghetti in between. Let’s ride! Recommended: 🔥 The 100 best movies of all time🤯 The best action movies of all time😬 The best thriller movies of all time🆓 The 30 best free movies on YouTube

Whatever you may think of Disney as a corporation, years of swallowing up other media companies has grown its streaming platform into an entertainment goldmine. Not only is it a one-stop shop for just about everything the House of Mouse has ever produced, it’s also where you’ll find all things Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel, plus insightful documentaries, concert films and live Broadway productions. With such a hefty catalogue, finding exactly what you’re looking for can be overwhelming. With that in mind, we’ve dug through all of Disney+ offerings to find the true cream of the crop. Here are 60 of the platform’s can’t-miss titles. Recommended: 🐭 The 50 best Disney movies for family night🦸All the Marvel movies ranked from worst to best👾 The 52 best Star Wars characters

Television is widely thought to have entered its golden age in the early 2000s, but the road there was paved by the previous decade. In many ways, the ’90s completely changed the idea of what the medium could accomplish. It’s where Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld reinvented the sitcom. It’s where David Lynch actually got a spot in primetime. And it’s where HBO set up the revolution of the coming millennium by introducing a crime drama for the ages.  If you weren’t around back then – or ‘didn’t even own a TV’, as Gen X liked to brag – it’s a good time to catch up. The ’90s are everywhere again, in fashion, music and all over streaming platforms. Here are 37 can’t-miss suggestions, along with where to find them. Recommended: 📺 The 101 best TV shows of all-time💻 The 40 best Netflix original series to binge🎮 The best 50 ‘90s movies🎶 The 50 best ‘90s songs

Gentlemen, rev your Aston Martins and start shaking those martinis, because a new James Bond is on the horizon. Menthol smoke has not yet started billowing out of MGM Studios – the traditional indication that the next 007 has been chosen – with Daniel Craig’s likely replacement still a mystery. What does this mean for the future of the iconic British spy series and its upcoming 26th instalment? Information is limited, but here’s what we know so far.  What does Amazon MGM Studios’ takeover mean for the next James Bond? After months of rumour and speculation, James Bond finally got a new boss in February 2025. Not M, but Amazon MGM Studios who sealed a deal with 007’s producers, Eon’s Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson, to take creative control of the franchise.  Broccoli and Wilson will remain co-owners of James Bond but crucially, will step back from controlling the future direction or execution of the franchise. ‘With the conclusion of No Time to Die and Michael retiring from the films, I feel it is time to focus on my other projects,’ Broccoli said in a statement.So what does it all mean for 007? We’re probably a step closer to a release date for Bond 26 and the announcement of a new James Bond to star in it. Maybe a radical change of direction for the whole franchise, too, with immediate speculation that Amazon will look to spin their expensive new IP into the kind of shared universe storytelling that Disney pursued with Lucasfilm and Star Wars after its takeover. Is a

It’s officially the dog days of summer, so it’s appropriate that one of the highlight titles coming to Netflix in August is about a pottymouthed animated canine. Fixed is one of two new adult cartoons on the slate, the second being the new series from BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg. There are also two new true crime docs – although one might qualify as a ‘true’ crime doc – along with a comedy about true-crime obsession, plus political thrillers, crime thrillers, young-adult romcoms and 10-part documentary on the Dallas Cowboys. The biggest premiere, though? The release of the second season of the smash hit Addams Family spinoff, Wednesday. Man, Halloween comes earlier every year, doesn’t it? Recommended: 💻 The best Netflix original series to binge📺 The best TV and streaming shows of 2025 (so far) My Oxford Year Netflix has really cornered the market on shows about young American women travelling to Europe to find love. In this one, a student at Oxford (Sofia Carson) falls for a handsome red flag (Corey Mylchreest). But what happens when it’s time for her to return to New York? Tears, we assume. Premieres Aug 1   Wednesday season 2 Jenna Ortega returns as the sullen Goth teen turned amateur sleuth in the second season of the megahit Addams Family spinoff. The first batch drops in August, with the second half coming in September. The big question: will she dance again? Premieres Aug 6   Fixed An all-star comic voice cast, including Adam D

Get ready to feel the cold, clammy, extremely convoluted hand of death on your shoulder: Final Destination Bloodlines is coming to streaming this week. The horror hit lands on HBO Max this Friday, August 1, less than three months after arriving in theaters. The sixth film in the series, and first since 2011, far outstripped expectations both commercially and critically. If you’ve seen any of the Final Destination movies, you know they succeed less on plot and character than ridiculously elaborate kills, which are frequently so gory and over-the-top they end up more funny than frightening. Bloodlines has a 93 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes; Time Out’s review called it ‘daft as hell and a heck of a good time’ and praised its ‘minimal reliance on nostalgia’.  Raking in $285 million at the worldwide box office, Bloodlines is the most successful movie in the franchise and the second biggest horror hit of 2025 after Sinners. If you’d like to binge the entire franchise, you can find it on Tubi, Hulu and Max. And if you still have linear cable, HBO is airing the entire run on Saturday, August 2, at the following times: 12.10pm ET – Final Destination (2000)1.50pm ET – Final Destination 2 (2003)3.24pm ET – Final Destination 3 (2006)5pm ET – The Final Destination (2009)6.25pm ET – Final Destination 5 (2011)8pm ET – Final Destination Bloodlines (2025) Review: Final Destination Bloodlines is a bloody good time. The best horror movies of 2025 so far.

The streaming revolution has made almost the entirety of movie history available at the clack of a keyboard, but it’s far from perfect. For one thing, it’s grown terribly expensive. As the number of platforms has exploded, the notion of canceling cable – the dream of the early streaming era – has become increasingly cost prohibitive. And yes, while there are a handful of free, ad-supported services with decent catalogues out there, it’s pretty jarring to watch, let’s say, Late Spring and suddenly get interrupted with a commercial for cleaning liquid or Taco Bell. But what if we told you there’s a streaming service that’s not only totally free and without ads, but loaded with great new, classic and rare films – and that all you need to access it is a library card. It’s called Kanopy. Started in 2008 out of Western Australia, the company initially aimed to be ‘the Netflix of education’, marketing itself to universities and libraries in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. and hosting thousands of videos from the likes of the Criterion Collection, PBS and BBC. Now, it’s simply a cinephile’s dream, offering over 30,000 titles ranging from classics from Hollywood and abroad, to cult favourites, to hard-to-find obscurities, to documentaries and experimental films, to even newer fare like 2025 Best Picture winner Anora. (A handful are added weekly.) And, as mentioned, if you have a library card from a participating library – or, for college students university ID – that’s all you need

What are you doing a year from now? If you’re a cinephile, you probably already have the opening date of Christopher Nolan’s new film, The Odyssey, circled on the calendar. Now, you can set it in stone. As first reported by Variety, starting Thursday, July 17, 2025, Nolan super fans – and, we supposed, hardcore Homer-heads – can purchase tickets to see the movie in IMAX 70mm theaters in the US and UK, exactly one year before the film is released in cinemas. Rumors began swirling earlier in the week as Reddit users noticed showtimes for the movie already listed at theaters in Arizona and Dallas. The recently reopened AMC Lincoln Square in New York has a 2pm showtime listed as ‘available soon’, while the fan community IMAX Vanguard suggests tickets will soon go on sale for a screening at the BFI in London.   While studios will often make deals with IMAX theaters far in advance, to have those plans made public a year in advance is unprecedented. The catch here is that only about 30 theaters in the world are equipped with IMAX projectors. But that didn’t stop enthusiasts from travelling great distances to see Nolan’s previous movie, 2023’s Oppenheimer, in the format: IMAX screenings accounted for 20 percent of the Best Picture winner’s $975 million worldwide gross. Nolan is one of the format’s truest believers, having shot parts of nearly every film he’s made since The Dark Knight using IMAX cameras, while The Odyssey will be the first shot entirely on such cameras. The Odyssey i

The streaming era has made untold thousands of movies available at our fingertips. The problem? The vast majority of those movies were made in only the last two decades or so. If you’re a burgeoning cinephile looking to continue your film education, finding films from earlier than the Clinton administration is more difficult than it should be. But it’s not impossible: you just need to know where to look. A good place to start? YouTube. The site best known for cat videos, conspiracy theories and DIY home repair tutorials is a semi-secret repository for movies unavailable on other platforms. Many classics of the cult, arthouse and international variety are out there to stream, completely for free. Of course, the drawbacks are dodgy transfers and possible copyright violations. But if you want to watch one of the greatest anti-war films of all-time, well, it’s there, it’s in 1080p, and it’s legal. Be forewarned, though: 1985’s Come and See will leave you absolutely shell-shocked. Set in Nazi-occupied Belarus, the final film by Soviet director Elem Klimov follows a young soldier named Florya as he witnesses horrors beyond his comprehension. Time Out – which has not only named the movie one of the best war movies of all-time but one of the greatest overall – put it this way: ‘As unsparing as cinema gets, the influence of Elem Klimov’s sui generis war movie transcends the genre in a way that not even Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan can match. At its heart it’s a coming-of

What’s the biggest movie of 2025 so far? It’s not Sinners, Jurassic World Rebirth, Lilo & Stitch or A Minecraft Movie. In fact, American audiences probably haven’t even heard of it.  It’s called Ne Zha 2, a Chinese animated film that is dominating the global box office almost entirely from within its home country. Released in January, it has made over $2 billion, overtaking 2024’s Inside Out 2 for the highest grossing animation of all-time.  And now, it’s coming to North America. A24 will collaborate with China’s state-sponsored CMC Pictures to bring Ne Zha 2 to theaters in the United States and Canada, as well as Australia and New Zealand, on Aug. 22. The English-language dub will feature Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh in the voice cast. A sequel to 2019’s Ne Zha, the film, by director Yang Yu, aka Jiaozi, is based on the 16th century novel Investiture of the Gods. It follows the title character, a demigod with a rebellious nature, as he learns to wield his incredible powers and protect humanity from forces of evil. In a statement, Yeoh said she is ‘honored to be part of Ne Zha 2, a landmark in Chinese animation and a powerful reminder of how universal our stories can be.’ The rest of the English voice cast has not yet been announced. ❗ Ne Zha 2: the game-changing story behind the biggest movie you’ve never heard of. ❗100 best animated movies of all time to add to your watch list.

Juillet sonne le grand retour des têtes familières sur Netflix. Charlize Theron rouvre le bal dans The Old Guard 2, où elle renfile le costume d’immortelle badass pour défendre une humanité en péril. Un come-back musclé qui ouvre un mois placé sous le signe des suites très attendues. À la fin du mois, c’est Adam Sandler qui ressuscite l’un de ses rôles les plus cultes : le golfeur déjanté d’Happy Gilmore revient plus de vingt ans après, dans une suite qui promet autant de swings que de gags bien gras. Entre ces deux poids lourds, Netflix déroule un programme dense : l’ultime saison de la série de fantasy gothique The Sandman, une nouvelle sitcom signée Chuck Lorre (The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men), et le retour très remarqué de Lena Dunham, qui cosigne sa première série depuis Girls – une comédie romantique irrévérencieuse à souhait. Voici les 10 sorties Netflix à ne pas manquer en juillet The Old Guard 2 Charlize Theron recolore ses cheveux et renfile son costume de super-héroïne d’action dans la suite de l’adaptation de bande dessinée de 2020, qui avait rencontré un succès aussi inattendu que retentissant. On y retrouvait une bande de mercenaires immortels, et cette fois, Uma Thurman incarne la grande méchante – armée d’un sabre, comme au bon vieux temps. Disponible à partir du 2 juillet The Sandman – Saison 2 La série de fantasy sombre, inspirée de la bande dessinée de Neil Gaiman, touche à sa fin de manière un peu abrupte. (Les showrunners assurent que c’

Patriotism is a tough sell for America right now, but in the same way you don’t have to believe in immaculate conceptions to celebrate Christmas, you mustn’t be a coal-rolling flag-hugger to embrace the things the Fourth of July truly represents: that is, beers, barbecue, baseball and, of course, blowing stuff up. And when the sun goes down and your stash of M-80s has run out, it’s time to collapse on the couch with a light domestic lager and end the day with a movie.  The question is, what qualifies as an ideal Fourth of July movie? Does it need to be expressly patriotic? Must it actually take place on the holiday in question? Can it express more complicated feelings about this place 329 million of us call home? In truth, all apply. To give you a better idea of what to watch this Independence Day, here are the best picks to throw on this July 4. Photograph: 20th Century FoxBill Pullman as President Thomas Whitmore in Independence Day Independence Day (1996) Director: Roland Emmerich Cast: Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum Technically, it’s about mankind declaring its independence from the aliens that have come to subjugate us, but it’s the Americans that lead the way. Bill Pullman gives a more inspirational speech than basically any real president has managed since. And if Will Smith punching an alien right in its ugly mug doesn’t make your heart swell with pride, go ahead and deport yourself to Mars now.  "Jaws" Jaws (1975) Director: Steven Spie

Comedy fans, turn your excitement to 11 and drummers prepare for spontaneous combustion: This Is Spinal Tap is coming back to theaters. The 1984 mockumentary, directed by Rob Reiner and starring Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer as the eponymous fictional hard-rock band, is being re-released this weekend in a 4K restoration in celebration of the movie’s 41st anniversary. It’s also a precursor to the long-awaited sequel, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. A send-up of 1980s rock ’n’ roll excess, This Is Spinal Tap was a modest success upon release but has since become one of the most celebrated comedy movies of all-time. It currently sits atop Time Out’s list of the greatest comedy films ever made, and comes in at No. 78 on our ranking of the 100 best movies ever. ‘Sporting arguably the most quotable script in movie history,’ we wrote, ‘and some of the meatiest metal melodies this side of Bon Scott-era AC/DC, this is simply a perfect film: from the first chord of Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight to the very final line (“I dunno, what are the hours?”), there's literally nothing about it that could be improved.’ The restored and remastered version plays in theaters across America for a brief run, July 5-7. As for the sequel, Reiner, along with all the main cast members, are returning to chart the run-up to the band’s farewell concert, which we’re sure will go off without a hitch. Announced cameos include Elton John, Paul McCartney and Garth Brooks. It’s

In cinephile circles, A24 has become a symbol of quality for a certain kind of movie: edgy, thought-provoking, stylistically bold, yet still broadly accessible. Think Ex Machina, Hereditary, Moonlight and Everything Everywhere All At Once. The studio and film distributor has grown ubiquitous enough to attract some mockery from some corners of the movie world, but it’s hard to argue with the success rate. Its run has continued with more recent critical and commercial hits like The Brutalist, Materialists and Friendship. Now, one of the most acclaimed A24 films of the last few months is hitting streaming – and it might be one you haven’t even heard of. On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, by director Rungano Nyoni, is a surreal dark comedy set in the filmmaker’s home country of Zambia. One night, a woman named Shula (Susan Chardy) comes across a dead body on the side of the road: her uncle’s. As funeral preparations commence, the narrative flashes back and forth, revealing the dark secrets of Shula’s middle-class family. The film – Nyoni’s second, after 2017’s I Am Not a Witch – currently holds a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score and an 87 rating on Metacritic. Time Out’s own review describes the movie as ‘thought-provoking’ and ‘visually arresting’. It’s available to stream on HBO Max starting this Friday, July 4. Two more widely seen, if less lauded, A24 releases are also premiering on HBO Max this month.  Opus, starring Ayo Edebiri and John Malkovich, arrives July 11. The thriller f

This year, celebrate Independence Day with burgers, fireworks and Irish step-dancing vampires. Sinners, director Ryan Coogler’s ambitious, blues-infused horror period piece, is coming to streaming over the upcoming holiday weekend, dropping on HBO Max on Friday, July 4.  Starring Michael B Jordan in a dual role as twins in the 1930s Mississippi Delta doing battle with a crew of bloodsuckers, the film is one of the biggest hits of 2025, earning over $360 million at the box office. In a review, Time Out described the movie as ‘audacious enough to leave you simultaneously awed and overwhelmed.’ It’s currently sitting at No. 4 on our list of the best films of the year. Time Out also recently added the film to its list of the 100 greatest horror movies ever made. The movie proved popular enough after its initial April release that it returned to 70mm IMAX theaters in mid-May – which is, frankly, the best way to experience the full scope of Coogler’s vision. But if you haven’t seen it, or want to watch it again, a good TV will do. Just make sure to crank the volume, especially for that incredible, hallucinatory music sequence in the middle.